


With your steel heart

by sebsterianart



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Android AU, Kinda, M/M, Modern AU, slowburn, the rating Might change l8r so watch out 4 that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-23
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-01 08:40:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15770547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sebsterianart/pseuds/sebsterianart
Summary: "Its name is See, Hear, Imitate, React, Observe.""Or SHIRO, for short,"AKA Keith smiles at a robot and all hell breaks loose.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> whoawhoawhoa hey !! i havent written anything in forever, whats up. this is uhh a rly self indulgent au that ive wanted to do for a while. someone else has probably done it before but like, i love androids so here we Go

"—And if you turn to page three, you will reach ‘The Understanding of The Mechanics of Robotics’. There, you will find..."  
  
Keith was dozing off, bad. He had the general idea of what the topic was, at least, but any time he tried to focus on it, it slipped out of his grip, like trying to catch a lizard.  
  
Lizards... _Lizards_ ...Keith could feel his face slowly slipping out of his palm to the desk. _What was the topic about again_ ?  
  
A foot swiftly kicked the back of his shin and he hissed, pulling his leg up to survey the damage and then twisting his head to meet the gaze of whoever did it. Just as he thought, it was Tall Guy- Keith didn't know his name, he didn't know anybody's name here, but he knew who he was. At least, a little bit. For some reason, Tall Guy had this weird personal vendetta against Keith- though Keith was sure he hadn't done anything to him. He remembered the faces he fought, and although Tall Guy had a pretty forgettable face, Keith would've remembered.  
  
"What is your problem?" he mumbled through gritted teeth, and Tall Guy glared at him as if it was obvious. Nothing about Tall Guy was obvious; he was the most confusing person Keith had ever met.  
  
Tall Guy gestured to the class, then to the teacher, making a show of especially pointing out the teacher. "At least act like you're paying attention. God, and you still have better grades than me for some reason..."  
  
A large hand rested upon Tall Guy's shoulder and ended up snapping him out of it. "Lance," _Big Guy,_ Keith decided he was going to be called, said as he shot a nervous look towards Keith, then dropped closer to Tall Guy to whisper something.  
  
And with that settled, Keith's attention went back out the window.  
  
That is, until the door to class swung open almost violently, a large table being wheeled in with the help of three people. Big Guy suddenly got up to help too, walking over and setting the table down at a slight angle. It was steel, with a white sheet over it that reminded Keith of something he saw in a documentary about morgues on Netflix. He hadn't actually _wanted_ to watch something about morgues, but ever since Netflix added that autoplay feature, he'd been forced to watch more documentaries than he thought ever even existed.  
  
"Welcome Katie! I was almost afraid you wouldn't make it." The teacher walked over to a small girl who had come with the table, giving her hand a firm shake then moving onto the others. When she was finished, the teacher turned back to the class, a wide grin on her face. "Class, this is Katie Holt. I'm sure you've seen her around here before. And this is her brother Matt Holt," a guy with choppy auburn hair waved a hand, "-and her father, Samuel Holt." An older man beside Matt pushed up his glasses, practically beaming.  
  
"And you all know Hunk Garrett, he sits just in front of you." Big Guy-  _Hunk_ , Keith supposed, gave a timid wave. Tall Guy, _Lance?_ , hooted from his seat and Hunk blushed.  
  
"They've all been working on a new special project that has been touched upon before in the world of science, but never like this.." The teacher stepped away from the table, obviously building up to something.  
  
The sheet was pulled off with a dramatic flourish, and Keith's eyes widened at what was underneath it. There was a pale man with white hair laying there, completely motionless. Countless tubes and wires stuck into him, connecting to heavy machines that sat by the table. Somebody behind Keith screamed, and he couldn’t blame them.  
  
"Don't worry! It's not real," Samuel Holt spoke, before pressing a button beside the bed. Three beeps sounded, and then a mechanical-sounding _whirrrr_ kicked on. It reminded Keith of the noise the fans in his laptop made when it overheated, which happened more times than he'd like to admit.  
  
The man on the table opened his eyes slowly, and Keith could see that they weren't normal eyes- they were camera lenses in the shape of eyes, and they adjusted a few times before the man sat up, looking around the class.  
  
"A robot?" someone on Keith's side guessed, and the girl who was introduced before, Katie Holt, gave a Cheshire-wide grin.  
  
"Its name is See, Hear, Imitate, React, Observe."  
  
"Or SHIRO, for short," Hunk quickly supplied.  
  
"We've been working on SHIRO for over three years now," Matt explained. "I'm sure some of you have been to Disney, and seen the incredible animatronics there. Or watched that video of the robot with human expressions." He reached down into a bag at his hip and pulled out some papers, blueprints of SHIRO. "Well, we're hoping to to take it a step further with SHIRO, and make the most advanced android to ever exist!"  
  
The class burst out into murmurs at that, some questioning why, and others questioning how. Keith was stuck between them all, but he was broken out of his thoughts and suddenly gasped when the android looked at him, its eyes adjusting for a moment before they focused in on Keith. They scanned Keith up and down before looking back to his eyes, and the android managed a smile.  
  
They weren't kidding when they said it was advanced. Keith had heard about this phenomenon before, _uncanny valley_. It was when things resembling humans looked so close to actually being human that it freaked people out. But...Keith actually didn't feel like that when he looked at the android, which freaked him out more than if he had. He was supposed to be creeped out; but instead he just felt like he was looking at a normal person. He gave a hesitant smile in response to the android's.  
  
It seemed to take the droid aback for a moment, and it stared a while longer before looking over to Katie. Katie raised a brow in question, but their conversation made entirely of facial expressions ended when the teacher spoke.  
  
"Settle down," the teacher ordered the class, before turning to Hunk and the Holts once more. "Please, continue."  
  
"Well, it started with just a bet. I bet Katie that I could make a better robot than her, and she said, and I quote, ‘In your dreams.’" Matt looked towards Katie, who gave a shrug and a small snort. "So we set off to do just that; make robots. But halfway through the bet we fell down the rabbit-hole of complex androids- or, should I say, _robot-hole_."  
  
The class groaned, Keith included. That was terrible. Even Katie looked embarrassed.  
  
"Somewhere along the line we ended up agreeing that instead of designing our own separate, probably small robots...we could combine our efforts and make one, big, _beautiful_ robot."  
  
A small whirring sound came from SHIRO as the android looked away, again like a fan kicking on, but louder, this time. Matt laughed. "Oh, yeah, and we gave it the ability to blush."  
  
Hunk patted SHIRO's back sympathetically.  
  
"Anyways, if anybody has any questions, now's the time. We're going to have to wheel SHIRO back into the lab soon; it’s still in the test stages, so we'll have to check and make sure everything's still running smoothly."  
  
A wave of hands shot up, and the teacher decided to be the one to select the students. "You there, with the blue shirt."  
  
Keith turned to see that it was Lance. He lowered his hand with raised brows. "Uh, yeah, no offense to Hunk-,"  
  
"None taken?" Hunk replied hesitantly.  
  
"-But I've seen _waaaay_ too many horror movies to know where this is going. What happens if SHIRO decides to turn evil?"  
  
Suddenly, the wave of students went silent. Keith didn't know if it was because they agreed with the question, or decided it was too stupid to mess with. Samuel, however, seemed to be thinking hard about it, rubbing his bearded chin. "Well, I suppose we'd have to shut it down,” he answered simply. "But I trust our coding."  
  
Lance made a face then shrugged, leaning back in his seat. He seemed unsatisfied with the answer, but didn't push it any further.  
  
The teacher went back to selecting hands. Some of the questions were small, like, "How did you decide what you wanted SHIRO to look like?" or "What is SHIRO made out of?"  
  
But some of the questions were bigger, like, "Does SHIRO have emotions?". That was a hit of a question, and Hunk and the Holts seemed excited to answer.  
  
"Long story short- You _could_ say that, but they aren't emotions like you and I have. SHIRO is built to be expressive, but that doesn't mean there's true emotion there. SHIRO is still an android, after all."  
  
"Can SHIRO feel the things it touches?" someone asked after that, and the teacher seemed mildly peeved at the fact that they did it without being chosen. But Hunk shut that negativity down with a big, proud grin.

"Oh man, that was like, super important to me." He rubbed his hands together as he spoke. "That was probably one of the first things we did, actually. After finishing its body of course. We needed something to set us apart from the crowd and I was like-" he snapped his fingers together and then pointed to nothing in particular, "'-That's it!' No one's really ever done that before. So yeah, SHIRO can feel."  
  
The original asker nodded, seeming to think on that. "Can I touch it?"  
  
The room fell awkwardly silent. Hunk giggled nervously, and Katie made a face. Matt hummed in a high-pitched sort of way, like he was contemplating it, but didn't really want to do it. "Well..."  
  
The teacher interrupted. "I think that's enough, class."

* * *

  
After that demonstration, SHIRO was all anybody was talking about. Keith actually sighed out of relief when he finished all his classes; he wanted to get out of the garrison as soon as  possible. It wasn't that he didn't like the subjects or anything, but the noise was too overstimulating and he couldn't wait to get home and sit in complete and utter silence for at least six hours.  
  
He hiked one leg over his motorcycle and took off, zoning out as his body went on autopilot.  He turned at the broken tree, took a left at the weird rock that he could swear was in the exact shape of a UFO, and then it was smooth sailing from there. He'd taken the same route home ever since he could drive. He could probably maneuver it blindfolded if he tried.  
  
But this time, something threw a rock in the road. Not literally, but something caught Keith's attention and made him pause. He was in the middle of a high class neighborhood, and that was enough to make him uncomfortable, but there was something-  
  
_"Hey!"_  
  
-shouting at him, apparently. He parked his bike and silenced the engine, looking around for the source of the noise. Maybe it wasn't directed towards him?  
  
"Hey, you!"  
  
He turned his head sharply, but was met with nothing again. After a few contemplative moments, he decided to shrug it off and get back on his bike. Even if somebody was calling to him, he didn't care at this point. He just wanted to get home.  
  
Keith parked his bike outside his shack and went to open the door, jigging the doorknob when it wouldn't turn. It was stuck, like always. The shack was old and the wood didn't fit the hinges properly anymore. It was something Keith had been meaning to fix for forever. But every time he still ended up forgetting.  
  
He threw his shoulder onto it a couple of times before it finally relented, crashing against the wall and allowing him to step inside. He took off his jacket and shook the sand out of it before heading to the kitchen, grabbing something out of the freezer and popping it into the microwave. It was some kind of dinner for one he'd found at a gas station for about 79 cents. The cashier had given him a look as he bought it, and now, as he scooped some onto his fork and placed it in his mouth, he realized why. It was disgusting.  
  
His nose wrinkled as he dug the box out of the trash and looked at the picture. Yeah, he'd been ripped off 79 cents. He frowned, but decided he was going to eat it anyways. Food was food after all. Even if it tasted like hot, wet cardboard that someone dumped an entire bottle of salt onto.  
  
He plopped down onto his futon and opened up his laptop, shoving another forkful of the hot garbage into his mouth as it booted up. He had to write an assignment about...space, or something. He hadn't been really paying close attention. Everyone murmuring about SHIRO twenty-four-seven had made his brain short circuit for the rest of the day. He gave up and quickly finished his food, then put his futon down and grabbed a blanket. It was still early, but he felt like he hadn't slept for a thousand years. He fell asleep minutes after hitting the pillow, and it was lights out.

* * *

A loud crash startled Keith awake, and he immediately grasped his knife. His Dad had said that his Mom lent it to him for protection, a long while ago. And though he was too young to remember that day, he still used it for exactly that. He carefully surveyed the area, taking notice that his door was open. He had locked it before going to sleep, and that was besides the fact it was shitty and had definitely settled back into being impossible to open. Unless you were strong, which just proved that whoever had broken in had to be.  
  
Keith clutched his knife tighter and quietly slipped off of his futon, making sure to place his feet where the floor wouldn't creak. That was at least one advantage he had against whoever broke in, he realized, as they misplaced their step and the noise gave them away. They were in the bathroom.  
  
He slowly moved across the room, the light from the bathroom clear as day. They were inside the shower, behind the curtain. Keith was right, judging based upon the shadow, that they were built like a brick house.  
  
Keith licked his lips and reached for the curtain, tugging it back and immediately pinning his knife to-  
  
_"SHIRO?"_  
  
SHIRO was breathing hard, clutching Keith's shampoo in its hand. It must have squeezed the bottle, because there was now shampoo all over the android.  
  
"You," SHIRO breathed, about to move forwards. But Keith's knife was still pressing into its flesh. Keith flinched backwards when he realized, the knife falling to his side.  
  
"Wh-..." Keith stopped, then looked around. It seemed to be just SHIRO, but how would SHIRO have known where Keith lives? "Why?" Keith managed to get out, his voice cracking at the end of the word.  
  
SHIRO stepped out of the bathtub, grinning. But it stopped when Keith took a couple steps back. SHIRO's smile fell at the sight. "I came to see you."  
  
Keith narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Why? How do you know where I live? How did you get here?"  
  
"I walked," SHIRO answered, as if that was obvious. It wasn't. Keith had a motorcycle for a reason. "and I followed you."  
  
"Followed me," Keith echoed, leaning against the sink. That voice... SHIRO must have been the one that was calling him. Keith scrubbed a hand over his face. "You have to go back."  
  
"No!" SHIRO immediately objected, putting down the shampoo bottle it had grabbed and moving to stand in front of Keith.  
  
Keith looked up at it- no, _him;_  it would be weird to keep calling him an it when he had somehow orchestrated this whole thing- and paused. "Why did you follow me?"  
  
SHIRO stilled at that, but his grin from before started returning. "You smiled at me," he said softly.  
  
_Oh my god_ , Keith thought, _he's like a duckling_. Keith had somehow imprinted on him by giving him that awkward smile. He pressed the heel of his palm into his eyes, not fully convinced that he wasn't dreaming. This was a nightmare scenario.  
  
He ignored SHIRO's sugary-sweet expression and moved from the sink, walking over to his coffee table and grabbing his phone. "You can't stay here."  
  
"Why not?" SHIRO followed him out, his eyebrows furrowed. Keith looked up from his phone for a moment to look at him, and his breath caught in his chest. An android was giving him puppy-dog eyes.  
  
He shook the thought out of his head and continued dialing the number of his school, but stopped suddenly as he caught a glimpse out of his window. It was pitch black outside; they wouldn't answer. He looked back up to SHIRO, who was still patiently waiting for his answer. Keith sighed, shutting his phone. "..Looks like you caught me at just the right time."  
  
SHIRO's puppy eyes practically sparkled. "Does that mean I can stay?"  
  
Keith tried to ignore the hopeful tilt of his voice, and nodded. SHIRO almost knocked him over with a sudden hug, and Keith froze in the grip. This was wrong. This was all wrong. SHIRO may be an android but he should at least understand personal boundaries.  
  
He seemed to catch on after a couple seconds of Keith not responding, and pulled back to survey his expression. "Sorry," he said, before pulling away completely. Keith brushed his shirt down, then cringed when he hand came back sticky. He'd forgotten about the shampoo.  
  
"Let's...get some new clothes," Keith said hesitantly. He had clothes for himself, but he wasn't sure he had anything that would fit SHIRO, given that he was a lot smaller than him. But SHIRO agreed and followed as Keith went to his suitcase and observed his options. "Why were you even in my shower to begin with?"  
  
SHIRO hummed and began stripping off his shirt. "I looked around everywhere. I wanted to see what your house was like." He held out his shirt to Keith, who directed him to just throw it on the floor. "Plus, it smelled nice." He could smell?  
  
"It's the cheapest I could find," Keith sighed. He had two options; let SHIRO go shirtless, or dig into his Dad's old clothes. He pursed his lips. He hadn't touched his Dad's things since he died. It happened forever ago, but it still felt like a fresh wound. He could let himself forget about it sometimes, let it fade into the background when there were other matters. But it always came back.  
  
"Is something wrong?" SHIRO asked, stepping into Keith's view to peer down at him. Keith shook his head.  
  
"It's..." He paused, looking up at SHIRO. Was he really considering dishing an android his childhood trauma? SHIRO seemed eager enough, but Keith still felt hesitant. "...Let's just get you a shirt."  
  
"I'm fine without one," SHIRO offered, but Keith rebuffed him, already moving to the boxes stacked against the walls. He remembered the day when he had to pack everything away, and it felt odd to reopen it. But he did anyway, gliding his knife across the worn tape and moving the cardboard tabs away. His Dad didn't own many sets of clothes, and Keith mainly remembered him in only two outfits. But he found a shirt anyways. It was just a plain black t-shirt, but Keith figured it was the best choice out of them all. He closed the box back up and handed the shirt over to SHIRO, who cradled it carefully, as if it were some precious gift. Which, it was a gift, Keith supposed, but it wasn’t _that_ big a deal.  
  
"Thank you." SHIRO slid it on, his head popping out of the top with mussed hair. Keith snorted quietly at the sight, and SHIRO squinted at the sound. "What?"  
  
"Your hair," Keith almost reached for it, but stopped himself, hand dangling. This was weird. He'd already gotten too used to this. He took his hand back and looked away. "I have a brush in the bathroom."  
  
SHIRO was quiet for a moment, but thanked him under his breath before turning to leave for the bathroom. Keith ran a hand through his hair, then changed into his own shirt. SHIRO definitely had to go in the morning. How would Hunk and the Holts even react if they woke up and he wasn't there?  
  
Keith's stomach dropped. _Lance_. Hunk was friends with Lance, the guy who hated his guts. What if Hunk was the same? The look he gave Keith didn't mean nothing, that was for sure, and Keith wasn't too keen to find out what exactly it did mean. What if he didn’t believe Keith? What if he thought Keith _stole_ SHIRO? That he somehow snuck in and scooped him up right under their noses? There would have to be legal repercussions for that. And Keith couldn’t go to jail, not again.  
  
SHIRO broke him out of his trance with a firm hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay? You've been acting strange."  
  
It was a gentle question, but it made something in Keith snap. He pushed the hand off and rolled onto his side. "You don't even know me."  
  
SHIRO fell silent beside him. Then Keith felt a weight against his side, the mattress bending. "That's why I came here, to get to know you better. You were the only person who smiled at me."  
  
Keith hesitated. "It...was an automatic reaction. You can't just...follow someone home and break into their house because they _smiled_ at you." Keith felt something heavy in his gut when he said it, but it was true.  
  
"Oh," SHIRO said, quietly. "I see." He fell silent once more, then Keith felt the pressure beside him let up. He heard the door swing open, and SHIRO was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okok so this chapter was written in advance, so just a psa that the next might take longer !!

Keith woke up to an empty bed and an empty hole in his stomach. It took him a while to piece together why, but once he did he had no idea what to do. SHIRO knew his way home, right? He wouldn't have gotten lost or anything..?   


Keith picked up his phone and immediately dialed the number of his school to try and get into contact with Hunk or the Holts. They told him they couldn't help him and gave some lame apology. He hung up on them in the middle of it and kicked his legs over his mattress. He could probably look up their numbers, but what would he say if one of them picked up?  _ "Oh, yeah, sorry to bother but your science project broke into my house last night and then ran off. Did he make it home okay?" _

He ran a hand over his face and brushed his bangs out of his eyes. He'd just have to do this the hard way, he decided as he shrugged on his jacket and grabbed a water bottle. Even if SHIRO had pushed him way past his limits, he still felt...guilty. He had the feeling that SHIRO maybe really didn't know any better, and he felt a sharp pang of regret that he just let him leave like that— in the dark, in the cold- if SHIRO could feel the cold.  _ Could he feel the cold _ ?

Keith shook his head and tied a bandana across his face, walking out to grab his bike and boarding it quickly. When SHIRO had called him that first time, he'd been in that fancy neighborhood. He'd start there.

He revved up his engine and left dust in his wake as he skirted down the desert. It felt kinda late to do it, but Keith didn't think he could stand this feeling in his chest for another second. He stopped in the middle of the road once he reached the area, and looked around at the pristine white houses all lined up in rows. He grimaced, but continued on. He had no idea where SHIRO lived, though. Was this stupid? He couldn't tell.

He cupped his hands around his mouth. "SHIRO?" Keith doubted SHIRO would be able to hear him, but it was the only thing he could think of.

_"Keith?"_ Someone asked, and he whipped around in place. He should've known the voice was off though, and he came face to face with none other than Lance. "What are you doing out here? Don't you live like, way far away from everybody cause you're a loner or something?"  
  
Keith ignored the jab and crossed his arms. "I could ask the same of you."

Lance squinted, as if calculating whether or not it was worth it. But he relented in the end. "I'm here to see Hunk, he's been working on that robot thing and told me I could hang out with him before school."

"SHIRO," Keith breathed, his arms falling to his sides. Lance raised a brow.

"Yeah, SHIRO. What the hell happened to your voice just then?" He tsked, hiking a bag higher onto his shoulder. "Well, whatever." And then he started walking away.

"Wait." Keith spoke hesitantly. Lance stopped and turned towards him, confusion written on his face.

"What?"

Keith bit his lips shut. Was it really worth it to ask? This was Lance, after all. "Can I...come with you?"

Lance opened his mouth, then shut it. He seemed to be short circuiting from the question. "Wh– _You?_ Come with–" Then, he stopped, his eyes widening and his mouth shaping into an 'o'.    
  
" _ Ohhh _ , I get it. Stealing my grades wasn't enough, so you wanna steal my best friend too, huh?" His voice raised the more he spoke, and he stepped forward challengingly. It was too close for comfort, and Keith took a couple of steps back. Lance shoved a finger in his face.

"Well I got news for you, I won't let you! Nuh-uh, no way! Hunk is  _ my  _ best buddy and that's the way it's staying!"

 "What– _no!"_ Keith held his hands up in defense, brows furrowed. He knew this was a mistake. He should've just stayed at home. "I want to see SHIRO."

Lance blinked, and his finger slowly lowered, almost wilting. He still seemed suspicious, looking up and down at Keith with pursed lips. But he leaned back, crossing his arms. "Why?"

_ Oh no _ . Keith was terrible at lying, but he couldn't tell the truth. He stammered a bit, trying to come up with something reasonable. "I– because he's-  _ it's _ –" He paused, cringing inwardly. "....cool?"

Lance seemed to contemplate that, the air thick and heavy around him. "...Fine."

Keith's eyes widened, and he almost blurted a  _ Wait, really? _ , but somehow refrained last second, which he was thankful for. "Yeah."

Lance gave Keith a once-over one more time before turning away, shrugging his bag higher onto his shoulder as he began to walk. Keith followed him slowly, still unsure whether or not he really bought his blatant lie. But Lance seemed to be the type of guy to do that.

They stopped at a house, and the first things that caught Keith's eye were the multiple security cameras scattered around the premises. The second was a large  **BEWARE OF DOG** sign stapled in front of the door. Fantastic. Lance didn't go to the door, however, and instead knocked on the garage door rhythmically. Some sort of secret code, maybe.  


There was a wave of silence, and Lance impatiently tapped his foot against the driveway. The door soon opened though though, and Keith was greeted with the sight of SHIRO strapped to a table…

_ completely lifeless _ .

_ Android _ , he reminded himself. But he still had to hold back a gasp. It was a stark contrast from when Keith last saw him. He was so full of energy back then.

Hunk turned to Lance and broke out into a wide grin, walking over to the both of them. "Hey! Did you bring–" He stopped in front of Keith, blinking. "Oh."

Keith crossed his arms defensively, which seemed to make Hunk click into high gear. "Oh, uh–I mean," he started, but deflated halfway through. " _ Oh _ . I mean ‘oh’. What's going on?"

Lance shrugged and stepped into the garage. "He was wandering around saying that he wanted to see SHIRO, so I brought him here." Hunk watched as Lance set his bag down and began unzipping it, then looked back to Keith.

"O-kay. Uh, well SHIRO's powered down right now, so..." Hunk scratched the back of his head awkwardly. The door behind him swung open and the small girl that had been at the school before, Katie, walked into the room, already talking before she even looked up.

"I dunno, Hunk. I keep trying to come up with reasons as to how SHIRO magically changed clothes, but I keep coming up blank. He was here all night, right? It doesn't make any sense."   
  
That was Keith's cue to run.  
  
He held up his hands and took a couple steps back, throwing a thumb over his shoulder. "Uh, I just came here to look at SHIRO, so...I'll be going now-"  
  
At the sound of that, Katie perked up, taking her eyes off of the tablet in her hands. "Wait." She squinted. "You're that guy SHIRO looked at."

Keith could feel himself sweating. Hunk furrowed his brows. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"He's  _ Keith Kogane _ ." She gestured, as if it was obvious. "You know, the  _ bad boy _ ."

"I know who he is," Hunk countered. "I just don't see what–" He stopped, and Keith could practically see the lightbulb go off over his head. "Wait, you don't think he has something to do with this?"

"It's just one explanation." Katie pushed up the glasses resting on her nose. "So, Keith..."

"I really should get going," Keith tried again, but Hunk's gaze pinned him in place. He cast a glance over his shoulder towards Lance, who was grinning madly as he leaned back into a rolling chair.

_ " No no no no no _ -! Not so fast, buddy!" He pushed himself forwards, the chair rushing across the room towards Keith. His expression suddenly turned serious as the chair came to a sudden stop, and Keith felt like he was having way too much fun with this. "Where were you last night?"

"Home," Keith answered simply. It wasn't a lie, after all.

"Hmm.. _ suspicious _ ."

"No, it's not!"

"Guys." A new voice spoke. Everyone turned to the source. It was Katie's brother. He raised his brows, pointing upwards. "I think the security cameras could end this debate."

"I  _ can't _ believe I didn't think of that," Katie muttered as she went over to the security cameras, Matt following her to help her reach with his longer arms. Hunk stood around awkwardly for a while, but ultimately ended up following the two.   
  
If it weren't for Lance, it would be the perfect opportunity to run. But instead, Keith was trapped, Lance staring at him from his place in the chair with narrowed eyes.   
  
"I knew there was something up with you," he sneered triumphantly, turning his nose up in an obnoxious way. Keith clenched his fists.

"We don't even have the footage yet."

"Doesn't matter." Lance held out a hand dismissively. "One way or another, you have something to do with this. I can  _ feel _ it."

Keith sighed, closing his eyes. He didn't even have a retort; Lance was right, for once. He just hoped it didn't show on camera.

"Got it!" Katie waved her hand in the air, holding the security footage. She popped open a laptop and shoved the footage into it, clicking on a couple of things before nodding everyone over. They all crowded around the laptop, and Keith held his breath as it started. Everything looked normal so far, and Katie ended up fast-forwarding it after about a minute of nothing.

"Wait, stop," Hunk said, pointing towards the front window on the screen. Katie slowed the footage again, and leaned closer. "Right there, do you see that?"

Katie hummed in concentration. Keith didn't know what Hunk was talking about.

"Here, rewind it." Hunk crossed his arms. "I swear, I saw– there!" Katie quickly paused the footage, and looked to Hunk. "Right there, you can see a light turn on."

Everybody leaned in close. Hunk was right, a light had turned on. "Did one of you guys do that?"

"I went to bed early," Matt said, stepping away from the laptop. "but good eyes, Hunk!" Katie nodded in agreement.

"I guess Dad could have turned it on or something..." She trailed off. Matt patted her shoulder.  
  
"I'll go ask, stay here."

"Okay..I think I'll start booting SHIRO up and ask it too. Just in case." She handed the laptop over to Hunk. "Keep reviewing the footage and point out anything weird you see." Then she moved over to SHIRO, hitting a switch on the side of the bed. There were three beeps, and then a soft _whirr_ , and then SHIRO opened his eyes. The whole thing gave Keith deja vu.  
  
"Oh, oh-!" Hunk exclaimed. "There's SHIRO! It just opened the door."

Katie looked down at SHIRO, who seemed just as surprised as she did. She pushed up her glasses, leaning towards him threateningly. "Got anything to say about that, SHIRO?"

SHIRO's gaze immediately went over to Keith, who raised his shoulders and gave him a look. He knew he was putting SHIRO in an impossible situation, but if SHIRO told the truth, Keith had no idea what would happen to them. The thought sent chills down his spine.

"SHIRO's looking at him!  _ Aha! _ " Lance suddenly exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air. "I knew it! I told you so!"

"We still don't know anything, Lance." Hunk leaned back from the laptop, closing it down. "It’s a dead end."

Everybody looked to SHIRO. His fans kicked on lowly under the pressure. Keith guessed it was his way of sweating, but it just made it all the more obvious. He put his hands over his face.

"I..." SHIRO started, gaze darting back and forth between everyone's expectant faces.    
  
"I'm sorry," he said, closing his eyes. This was it. Keith's life was over.

"I...wanted to see what it was like...outside."

_ Oh. _

The room fell silent. It seemed like it was the answer no one really expected. Wanting to go outside was probably the most pure desire there was.

"Then what does _he_ have to do with it?" Lance pointed to Keith. SHIRO pursed his lips.  
  
"He doesn't have anything to do with it."

Katie furrowed her brows. "Then why did he want to see you?"

SHIRO's eyes widened as he looked towards Keith. Keith recognized this expression, it was the same one he gave Keith after he told him he could stay. Puppy eyes. "You wanted to see me?"

Everybody turned towards Keith. His heart was beating so fast he felt dizzy.   
  
"I, uh–" He coughed into his sleeve. "Yeah, uh...who doesn't...want to see an android?" It came out as more of a question than Keith would've liked, but it seemed to buy him some time.

"I don't get it," Lance huffed, crossing his arms. He was definitely pouting. Hunk rubbed his chin, seemingly deep in thought. Then he suddenly snapped his fingers.

"Wait, I think I got it." He paused, and then giggled, covering his mouth with his hands. His shoulders were shaking, and Keith could barely make out his words. "Pidge, Pidge, it's-" He took in a deep breath, voice high-pitched. " _ Robot's first crush _ ."

SHIRO's fans kicked on full force.

"Holy shit," Katie-  _ Pidge _ ?, took off her glasses, rubbing the tops of her eye sockets. Matt suddenly came back into the room, slamming the door open with all the seriousness of someone about to deliver the news that the world was ending.

"Mom and Dad say they weren't awake, which means— wait," His shoulders slumped when he got a look at everybody, his previous bravado gone. It just made Hunk laugh harder. "Why are you laughing?"

"I seriously don't get it," Lance mumbled, still pouting. "Who would have a crush on this guy?"

"Wait, crush?" Matt looked to Keith and squinted, as if trying to figure out the same thing. It only served to make Keith's face hot and uncomfortable. Well, the whole situation was uncomfortable. But this was worse. He turned away, crossing his arms tight over his chest.

"SHIRO has a crush on  _ Keith Kogane _ , of all people." Lance supplied, sighing heavily and tilting his head back into his seat. Matt blinked.

"Oh," He opened his mouth to add something else, but was cut off by his own snort, lips quivering at the news. Hunk's eyes were full-on watering. He wiped away the tears with a drawn-out sigh. 

"I mean, I'm pretty sure it's impossible," he said, still chuckling under his breath. "But  _ man _ , that's funny."

Pidge put her glasses back on, the light glaring off of them as she pushed them into place. "It's definitely impossible, I never programmed SHIRO to have romantic feelings."

Hunk seemed to be finally getting a grip on himself and gave a nod. Lance didn't seem so easily bought, though. "Okay, listen," he started. "Don't get me wrong, I am totally on the someone-having-a-crush-on-Keith-is-impossible-robot-or-not boat." He paused, tilting his head. "But didn't you guys say that SHIRO has feelings?"

"Well, not exactly," Matt chimed in. "It's complicated. SHIRO's emotions aren't like ours, they're just..superficial. For looks, mostly." Keith looked over to SHIRO, whose face was slowly falling. He wanted to accept that explanation— these were the people who designed SHIRO, after all. But...something about it just didn’t sit right with him.

He shifted back and forth on his feet. He needed some time alone to think this over. "Can I go now?"

"Yeah, yeah," Pidge waved him off. "I think we're done here."   
  


* * *

 

  
After that brief interrogation, the rest of Keith's day paled in comparison. He went to school, hit the gym to sweat out his feelings, rode to the gas station to find some food that didn't taste like garbage, and now he was home, browsing through Netflix as he dully multi-tasked writing that paper about space he'd put off. It was something about safety precautions you have to take when you're up there. Keith didn't get it. It wasn't like he'd be going to space or anything anytime soon. But he knew he had to fill it out anyways. The sooner he did, the sooner he could complete the course, the sooner he could complete school for good, the sooner he could get a nice job, and then-...

Keith paused, staring blankly at his screen.  _ And then what?  _ He didn't have anything. His Mom left, his Dad was dead, he didn't have any friends. The closest thing he had to a friend was...  


He grimaced. It was SHIRO. Someone who wasn't even human. He was so bad at human interaction the only person who wanted to be friends with him was a fucking robot. Lance really hit the nail on the head with that loner comment he'd made.   
  
He sighed sharply through his nose and went back to browsing. He didn't have time for an existential crisis right now. He clicked on the first thing that looked even mildly entertaining and looked back to his paper, tapping the end of his pencil against it as the show started playing some cheesy theme song he didn't recognize.   


But a knock at the door suddenly interrupted it, and the sound made Keith do a double-take. No one was out there this late. No one was out there in general. He paused his show and walked over to the door, reaching for the knob hesitantly. But that hesitance melted when it wouldn't open. He tugged and jiggled it till he gave up and kicked it, then it finally swung open.   


" _Uh_ ," SHIRO was standing there, eyes wide. Keith's kick must have scared him. He shifted in place and rubbed the back of his neck. "did I come at a bad time?" Keith's mind went blank.  
  
"Wh-" He looked down at SHIRO's hands. He was holding flowers. Keith’s confusion obviously showed, because SHIRO cleared his throat.

"I wanted to apologize," he explained, holding out the bouquet in offering. Keith didn't take it. "For, you know...breaking into your house last night. And what happened earlier." He stopped, looking up at Keith's expression. Then he took the flowers back. "I'm sorry, you don't have to take them if you don't want to."

Keith blinked. "Uh.." He'd never been given flowers before. He wasn't sure how to react to any of it. He reached out carefully and wrapped his hands around the arrangement, looking down at the flowers curiously.

"They're stargazers," SHIRO said, answering a question that Keith had been wondering, but didn't ask. "I..thought they looked nice." They  _ were _ nice, but that was beside the point. Keith shook his head.

"You shouldn't be here," he said, and it came out rougher than intended, but he didn’t stop. "They almost caught you today. I don't want a repeat of that." It was true. That whole experience was terrifying, albeit not the  _ most _ terrifying experience Keith had had. But it definitely ranked up there.

SHIRO sighed, his whole body sagging. It was as if he’d aged 50 years at the reminder, and it made Keith feel an emotion he couldn't place. "I know." His gaze moved towards the ground, almost ashamedly."I just...wanted to give you those in person."

Keith pursed his lips. "...How did you even get out of there to begin with?" That was the main thing he was worried about. He'd come face to face with the Holts’ extreme security system; they were bound to know that SHIRO was on the loose again. But SHIRO seemed to perk up at the question, a small smile growing on his face.

"I did the same thing I did yesterday, but this time I made sure to hack the cameras so they wouldn't catch me." He seemed proud at that, and Keith couldn't exactly blame him. That was a risky move, but a calculated one.

He was silent for a few moments as he mulled it over, opening the door wider after he came upon his decision. "...You can come in." As soon as he said it, he expected to regret it. But instead he was blindsided by SHIRO's large grin. If Keith was a poet, he'd probably compare it to the moon's glow or something. But he wasn't, so he didn't, and he looked away from the sight after realizing he'd been staring for too long.

It was weird, he thought instead, as SHIRO walked into his house and looked around, giving a nod once he'd gotten the full view. "It, uh..looks the same," He said, flashing an awkward grin over his shoulder after. SHIRO didn't have to do any of this. But he still did, for some reason. They'd already seen each other at the garage, so Keith figured they'd just assume it was water under the bridge and move on. But instead, SHIRO hacked some security cameras to give Keith flowers, specifically to apologize to him. It was a little bit endearing, Keith had to admit, and he figured it was why he had the android in his room now.  
  
"Yeah, nothing really changes around here." He shut the door and set the flowers on the coffee table, casting a gaze towards SHIRO's back. He was still wearing the shirt Keith gave him.  
  
"Hm," SHIRO replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "That..doesn't seem very nice."

Keith shrugged, sitting on his futon. "Depends on how you look at it, I guess."

A heavy silence fell over the both of them, and Keith fidgeted under the weight. Silent water under the bridge wasn't happening, SHIRO made that clear, so Keith figured it was his turn now. He took in a deep breath.

"I'm..glad you're okay." He spoke carefully, ignoring SHIRO's gaze when he felt it fall upon him. "I was...scared that you'd maybe gotten hurt, or lost. Or something." He clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms. SHIRO was quiet. "If that would've happened..." He meant to say more, but ended up unable to finish it. SHIRO seemed to understand, though, and huffed softly.

"It's not your fault, I was...too excited. It was my first time–..." SHIRO cut himself off, brows furrowing. It seemed like he didn't really know the right thing to say. "...Well, it was my first time doing... _ anything _ . I hadn't done anything but tests or showings before."  


Keith cringed at that, even though he knew he shouldn't. SHIRO  _ was _ an android, after all. Keith was well aware of that. But...the more Keith got to know him, the more he felt like something was... _ off _ with the way they treated SHIRO.

"I've seen a lot of people, but it's always been the same thing. They're just interested in my mechanics, in my design. They're not actually interested in  _ me _ . Which...is why it meant so much to me, when...you smiled at me." SHIRO's voice got quieter as he said it, and Keith tried to convince himself that he had imagined it. But when he looked up at SHIRO's face, he knew he hadn't.

His expression was soft, teetering on the edge of awe. But there was a sharp undertone of uncertainty to it that pierced straight through Keith's heart. He had put that there last night. His throat felt dry at the realization.

SHIRO cleared his throat to break the moment, and rubbed the back of his neck. "But, uhm...I realize now, that..." He looked away, but Keith found himself still staring at his eyes. "You know, that it...didn't actually mean anything. Even if...it meant something to me."

Keith's breath stilled.

He'd been wrong before, he realized, when he called SHIRO a duckling. SHIRO wasn't a duckling. SHIRO was…a person. A person Keith had hurt. Because of the stupid walls he had up, he couldn't accept that SHIRO had just wanted to know him, and he just had to push him away instead.

And he had to admit he even had the urge now; his mind screaming at him to run, to get on his bike and ride as far as he could, as far as he could from these feelings, as far as he could get from this... _ hope _ .

The silence between them was tense. But Keith didn't trust himself to say anything. Instead, he scooted over on the futon and made room beside himself, patting the space to get SHIRO's attention. SHIRO looked at him, confusion washing over his face. But he paused when he saw Keith's expression.

He was  _ smiling _ .

It was small, and a little sad, but SHIRO was transfixed. He sat beside Keith, eyes not moving from where they were stuck on Keith's lips. Keith shifted for a moment, reaching across from him and coming back holding his laptop. "I, uh, don't know if this show is any good, but..." he hesitantly met SHIRO’s eyes, and SHIRO watched his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed thickly. It was a peace offering.

SHIRO grinned.

"Let's watch it.”

**Author's Note:**

> hmu on twitter & tumblr where im always up 4 talkin, esp abt sheith
> 
> https://twitter.com/sebsterianart
> 
> http://sebsterianart.tumblr.com/
> 
> btw fangz 2 keithkoge 4 helpin me wif da story and spelling !! U rok!
> 
> https://twitter.com/keithkoge
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/users/keithkoge/pseuds/keithkoge


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